Forest Sanctum
by MiyuWrites
Summary: Natsu and Gray get lost in a forest.


**Forest Sanctum**

The chirping of birds seemed to fill the world at first. Then, wind started blowing which made the leaves rustle.

Surrounding them, there was vegetation and trees. Golden sunbeams filtered through the high tree branches, light piercing the greenery.

Gray let out a huff as he looked around. His frown deepened.

"Great. Just great…" he turned to Natsu, to glare at him. "If it weren't for that stupid nose of yours, we wouldn't have gotten lost." The cheery chirping coming from above had Gray scowling and looking up at the trees.

"It's not my fault." Natsu defended himself. "No-one told you to follow me either. But that scent…" Natsu turned his back to Gray and started sniffing the air again, like a dog. "I could have sworn…"

Gray's teeth started to grind together in annoyance. His patience to the fire mage's dumb antics had been running extremely low before their current mission started and now, Gray was nearly losing it.

"Oh!" Natsu exclaimed suddenly, excitement colouring his voice. "Got it. This way!" And he started running like the mad person Gray knew him to be.

"Wait up!" Gray yelled before starting to run in pursuit of the other mage.

Unfortunately, Natsu didn't wait and the vegetation started to thicken so much so that Gray lost sight of the fire mage and couldn't tell the direction he'd taken. He paused and looked around, his breath coming heavily after the mad dash. Alas, everything looked the same. Large trees with their impressive trunks, by the roots there were smaller bushes that were sprinkled with colourful flowers. And between the trees, the tall vegetation, which went from taller fluffy bushes, also sprinkled with flowers – though these were in more muted colours – to spiky and thorny shrubs, sometimes interlaced with vines that also clung to the trees.

Yet, there wasn't a sign that Natsu had gone through this place.

Gray ran a hand through his hair in annoyance, pushing back the sweaty bangs that were clinging to his forehead. He bit his lower lip and closed his eyes, frowning in concentration. Trying to find Natsu's location.

His eyes opened suddenly, as a sound that didn't seem to be part of the environment reached him. He started walking in the direction from which it came, hoping that it had been Natsu.

He used his hands to make a path, grumbling under his breath when the thorns scratched at his arms and chest. Gray paused his motion for half a beat to wonder at when his shirt had slipped away but a branch came out of nowhere and slapped against his thigh, earning a shocked gasp from him. Fortunately, the thorny branches gave way to another set of smooth green leaves that brushed softly against his skin so a relieved sigh escaped the ice mage's lips.

Gray noticed that he was near to what seemed to be a clearing. The softer bushes were getting sparser and light made everything look golden and ethereal.

He kept walking towards it, noticing that the clearing was cut by a shallow river that ended in a pond that filled half of the clearing's ground. He stopped to look around, listening to the happy chirping that seemed to intensify and then his wrist was encircled in a too-warm grasp and Gray was pulled down. In the blink of an eye Gray was lying on the ground. He looked down at his wrist, still momentarily dazed and the golden tone of the skin in the hand… he _knew _it.

Gray caught himself and looked up at Natsu. The ice mage opened his mouth, ready to ask what the hell was wrong with the other but a hand pressed firmly against his lips.

It was a bit too hot for comfort…

"Shhh. It's almost time." Natsu murmured against Gray's ear, finally letting go of the ice mage.

Gray threw an incredulous '_What are you talking about?'_ look at Natsu but the serious expression, which was underlined by something else, told him to wait.

Natsu laid down on his stomach and crawled amid the vegetation, so that he was still mostly hidden but, Gray noticed as he followed his lead, allowed for a good view of the pond.

Gray couldn't tell how much time had passed with them, looking at the clearing. Now he could take a closer look at things.

As he'd previously noticed, half of the clearing's ground was occupied by the pond and the other part was also crossed by the river but the grassy ground wasn't the only thing that existed. To the edge of the clearing that was more to their right, there seemed to be a wooden construction. No, it wasn't a construction. It didn't seem to be man-made, but it didn't seem to be natural either.

It was an arch. Made of wood, crowned with vines, bushes and flowers. The vines went down the sides, towards the ground, hidden amongst the twisted wooden branches that also curled over the arch.

_It's a door_. Gray realized suddenly.

But… a door to what?

At the bottom of the arch there was no grass. No, the arch was slightly elevated on a mound of earth, but with what seemed like small slabs of stone, shaped like one of the pebbles that were immersed in the river, in pristine white made what seemed to be the entryway.

An elbow made light contact with his side and Gray looked at Natsu, inquisitively. The only answer he got was Natsu pointing towards the arch.

The birds had stopped chirping and the wind stopped blowing.

There was a deafening silence pressing against them. Even the air seemed to have thickened.

And then, it got easier to breathe, the forest noises returned. But there was something different now.

Small bells, with limpid and crystalline sound seemed to echo on the clearing.

The sunlight seemed to intensify for a moment and when Gray managed to look back, there was a tall person walking into the forest, materializing from what seemed to be thin air.

Gray nearly got out a gasp but Natsu covered his mouth on time, though Gray gave back to him by giving a slight bite in one of the fingers as Natsu made a small noise of wonder.

The sounds of nature muffled them and so the person that was walking towards the pond didn't catch them.

Gray took a closer look at this person.

It was hard to see the features clearly because there was a strange shimmer around this person. But Gray could only discern the light skin, long light brown hair and golden clothing. Not everything was golden though, there was a long white dress and a golden robe that seemed to be etched in silver signs. The air around the person was slightly fuzzy, as if there was a mist surrounding them but at the same time, it seemed to shine.

Gray blinked a couple of times to focus better. He saw the person rise their hands before them, and water surge up to meet them. Golden light went from the person's hands to the water before disappearing. With a nod, the person put some of the long strands behind their ear before turning around, facing the arch once more.

Natsu and Gray exchanged a glance before looking forward again, as the person began to sing.

It was a light voice, it was a strong voice. Strange words being uttered in a melody that seemed to resonate with the whole wood they were in. The earth trembled, the water rushed, the leaves rustled, birds chirped, the wind blew, the odd animal in the bush answered to the call.

Gray felt his limbs being suffused by a gentle warmth which made him unconsciously relax.

Then, the person twirled on the few steps towards the arch, dancing and still singing.

Gray looked on as the person crossed the arch and, with a flash of light, disappeared.

Gray felt his breath whoosh out of him and, with it, the energy that seemed to have been stored, went away, leaving him bereft and feeling almost _cold_.

"That was…" he started saying.

"It was something that you're rarely allowed to see." Natsu concluded for him while he knelt up and stretched. "That was very luck of us to be able to catch it, and being allowed to see."

"What do you mean?" Gray sat up and crossed his legs.

"Do you know what you just saw?" Natsu asked.

"Huh, not really? Strange person with strange powers that crossed that arch and what the hell was that?" Gray replied, standing up and walking towards the clearing.

"I'll have you know," Natsu started, following Gray to the clearing and stopping in front of the pond, "that was a sprite. They're elemental beings that…" Natsu paused and tilted his head slightly to the side, eyes glazing slightly for a moment. Then he snapped out of it and crouched by the pond. He plunged his hand into the water and moved it lazily. "They basically are in charge of taking care of the balance in nature, to change the colours of the leaves when Fall comes, to ensure that they aren't depleted of the right energy, to give back equally everywhere. And they only let themselves be caught in action seldom."

"You're going to tell me that they're shy, then?" Gray scoffed.

"Not shy. Igneel used to say that sometimes those who are worthy can see it. And, if there's any imbalance, the sprites might actually even it out." Natsu said with a shrug, standing up and looking at Gray. "Maybe that's what happened here."

Gray just arched his eyebrow. Though, there might be some logic to it.

"So, peace?" Natsu asked as he extended his hand towards Gray.

"Sure. Peace." Gray replied as he took Natsu's hand and shook it.

As they shook hands Gray felt the annoyance from before bleed out of him.

At least now, in the heart of the forest, there seemed to be peace.

* * *

A/N: Written while listening to "Forest Sanctum" by Adrian von Ziegler.

I'm not super pleased with how this ended but, it's done.  
Liz, thank you so much for your nice words of support. Hope you enjoy this small piece. :)  
And a big thank you to Fullbusterrulesmyheart too. Your fic gave me the feels to write today.


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